After surveying the area and consulting the map he had acquired, Qin Shaofeng soon arrived beside a small lake.
He had known about this lake for some time, but it was the territory of a group of Scaled Water Lizards.
The Scaled Water Lizards were at the Intermediate Third Level. They were no match for the Intermediate Fourth-Level beasts Qin Shaofeng had encountered before, but Scaled Water Lizards at the Intermediate Third Level were generally enormous. That made them strong, too, and ordinary people would have a hard time dealing with them.
On top of that, they were soul beasts that lived in groups. In this part of the outer Black Horn Mountain Range, they were considered one of the most powerful beast packs.
Of course, the Scaled Water Lizards did have one weakness: they were rather sluggish. With a skill like Little Li Flying Dagger, Qin Shaofeng was extremely confident.
If not for that, he wouldn't have set his sights on the group.
Still, Qin Shaofeng knew he could only try to pick off the Scaled Water Lizards one at a time. With his current Houtian Second Layer cultivation, he could handle two or three at once without much trouble, but any more than that would be a problem.
Besides, one at a time was simply more convenient when it came to killing them.
At that moment, more than fifty Scaled Water Lizards were gathered along the lakeshore. Qin Shaofeng naturally didn't dare approach recklessly.
After waiting patiently for a while, one Scaled Water Lizard that seemed to have only recently reached adulthood began swaying its massive body toward the woods beside the lake. It looked as though it was going out to feed.
What a good chance!
A glint flashed in Qin Shaofeng's eyes. He slowly withdrew, then quietly followed the Scaled Water Lizard.
He trailed it for some distance. When it finally let its guard down, Qin Shaofeng seized the chance and struck.
Whoosh!
His figure flashed, and Qin Shaofeng appeared right in front of the Scaled Water Lizard. He raised his right fist, Inner Qi gleaming around it, and slammed it forward.
But what happened next left Qin Shaofeng dumbfounded. His fist hit the Scaled Water Lizard as if he'd punched a wall of bronze and iron. Not only did he fail to hurt it, the rebound left his arm numb.
He had already learned something about the Scaled Water Lizard's defenses, but he still wanted to test them for himself.
He hadn't expected its defenses to be so formidable—stronger than he'd imagined.
His punch, which had consumed only 20 Inner Qi Points, had failed to break through the Scaled Water Lizard's defenses at all.
"Hss—!"
The Scaled Water Lizard let out a hiss. Though it hadn't suffered any real injury, Qin Shaofeng's sudden attack had enraged it.
It opened its jaws, baring rows of gleaming fangs, then whipped around and lunged at Qin Shaofeng.
Though the Scaled Water Lizard's astonishing defenses had shocked him, Qin Shaofeng didn't let his guard down. The instant it moved, he burst backward, dodging its bite.
But the stench that rushed at him nearly made him pass out.
Qin Shaofeng couldn't help backing away a few more steps, but the Scaled Water Lizard refused to let him go. It stamped all four feet and thrashed its whole body as it charged at him.
The Scaled Water Lizard's frenzied lunge kicked up a fierce gust. It was an imposing sight.
Qin Shaofeng was startled. He hadn't expected the Scaled Water Lizard to be so powerful. Not daring to let his guard down, he swayed lightly and dodged the lunge, then seized his chance and lashed a hard kick at its body.
"Smack!"
The crack rang out. The blow had plenty of force behind it, but the Scaled Water Lizard's hard scales kept it from suffering any injury.
Its body, however, shot uncontrollably into the air.
Huh?
What was that?
In the midst of the scramble, a flash of white caught Qin Shaofeng's eye. Something suddenly came to him.
Though the Scaled Water Lizard's body was covered in hard scales, its belly had only a patch of white, soft scales. That was the only weak spot on its entire body.
Whoosh!
Little Li Flying Dagger!
Without hesitation, the moment the white patch caught his eye, Qin Shaofeng gave a low shout. His right hand trembled, and a streak of silver blade-light shot from his hand, stabbing straight toward the white patch on the Scaled Water Lizard's belly.
Thud!
The sound of flesh being pierced rang out. The strike hit its mark.
"Hraaaagh—!"
With a sharp, agonized roar, the Scaled Water Lizard thrashed and rolled. Its massive tail swung around and lashed at Qin Shaofeng.
It still wasn't dead?
Qin Shaofeng hadn't expected that Little Li Flying Dagger, even after consuming 100 Inner Qi Points, wouldn't be enough to kill the Scaled Water Lizard.
But Qin Shaofeng didn't panic. He carefully dodged the incoming tail, drew the sharp sword at his waist, and struck while the Scaled Water Lizard's tail was still extended. He drove the blade hard into the wound Little Li Flying Dagger had opened.
Thud!
The sound of the sword piercing flesh rang out. A stream of blood spurted from the Scaled Water Lizard's belly. Qin Shaofeng's eyes grew steely, and he swept his right hand, dragging the sword through with a vicious slash.
Riiip!
With that slash, Qin Shaofeng left a half-meter-long gash in the Scaled Water Lizard's belly.
Blood gushed out in a torrent. In the blink of an eye, a small pool had formed on the ground.
Qin Shaofeng flashed away from the Scaled Water Lizard.
With such a huge wound in its belly, blood poured out in an instant. The Scaled Water Lizard only thrashed a few times before it fell completely still.
"System notification: Congratulations, player, you have killed one Houtian Third Layer Scaled Water Lizard. You have gained 8 experience points!"
"Whew! It's finally dead!"
Seeing the Scaled Water Lizard lying motionless, and hearing the system notification, Qin Shaofeng finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then he smiled.
"Sure is satisfying to kill monsters above my level. Eight experience points from just one. At this rate, it won't be long before I reach the Houtian Third Layer."
After muttering a few words, Qin Shaofeng smiled and turned his gaze toward the distant lake, excitement in his eyes.
An hour later, another Scaled Water Lizard fell. A system notification rang out, and Qin Shaofeng laughed with delight.
"System notification: Congratulations, player. Your experience has reached the required amount for a level-up. Player Qin Shaofeng has advanced to Houtian Third Layer!"
Level: Houtian Third Layer, 2/3000
Inner Qi Points: 900/900 (The Houtian Third Layer has 300 Inner Qi Points; Yi Jin Jing triples this amount)
Talent Spirit Root: Thunder Body
Skills: Fiery Golden Eyes, Yi Jin Jing, Little Li Flying Dagger
Battle Beast: Hundred Spirits Demon Fox
Equipment: None
Quest: None
Points: 130
Title: Lanjiang City City Lord
After hearing the system notification, Qin Shaofeng called up his status screen. He looked it over, then grew excited all over again.
"Mm, I've reached Houtian Third Layer, and my Inner Qi Points have shot up to 900. That means I can use Little Li Flying Dagger a few more times. Reaching Houtian Fifth Layer in three days shouldn't be difficult!"
Qin Shaofeng's eyes shone as he looked at his status screen. But he didn't prepare to hunt any more beasts that night.
It was already late, and after several hours of fighting, Qin Shaofeng was tired.
Even though his Inner Qi Points had been instantly replenished to full when he leveled up, Qin Shaofeng could feel his mental energy giving out.
After hesitating for a moment, he went off to find somewhere to rest.
He soon found a safe cave. After setting a few warning traps around it, Qin Shaofeng caught several wild rabbits and started roasting them.
As he ate the roasted rabbit meat, Qin Shaofeng thought about everything that had happened that day.
He had advanced from Houtian First Layer to Houtian Third Layer, something that would seem extremely abnormal to others.
By comparison, Qin Shaofeng was only somewhat pleased.
He had a system and could level up by killing monsters. If he didn't level up quickly, even Qin Shaofeng wouldn't be able to stand it.
His level wasn't the only thing that had changed.
Most importantly, some of his skills had started leveling up, too.
Fiery Golden Eyes: Level 2, God-grade active skill. The renowned signature ability of Great Sage Equal to Heaven Sun Wukong. Current level: 2. It can examine the information of characters up to three levels above the player's level, with a certain chance of revealing their weaknesses. It can also examine any other object, with the level of detail depending on the player's level. Each use consumes 10 Inner Qi Points.
Fiery Golden Eyes was the skill Qin Shaofeng used most often, and it was already close to reaching Level 3.
Compared to Level 1, Level 2 Fiery Golden Eyes could reveal much more detailed information. Its chance of finding a weakness had also increased.
What was more, at Level 2, Fiery Golden Eyes not only let Qin Shaofeng see more clearly; when he fought a beast, he could even see its attacks coming and dodge in time.
The reason Qin Shaofeng had been able to kill so many beasts that day was in no small part thanks to Level 2 Fiery Golden Eyes.
Little Li Flying Dagger: Level 2, God-grade active skill. Little Li Divine Blade, peerless under heaven—once it was thrown, it never missed! Current level: 2. Within ten meters, it never missed against an opponent at the player's level or below; every throw hit its mark. Once used, it consumed all Inner Qi Points.
(Note: It could also be used to launch an attack while consuming only a small amount of Inner Qi Points, with a corresponding reduction in power. The minimum cost was 100 Inner Qi Points.)
Aside from Fiery Golden Eyes, Little Li Flying Dagger—the other God-grade skill—had also leveled up, reaching Level 2.
At Level 2, Little Li Flying Dagger's range had increased from three meters to ten, and its power had improved considerably.
Earlier, before Qin Shaofeng had advanced to Houtian Third Layer, he'd used Level 2 Little Li Flying Dagger against the Scaled Water Lizard. He'd spent the same 100 Inner Qi Points, but the final result was entirely different.
At Level 1, even if Little Li Flying Dagger hit the Scaled Water Lizard's weak spot on its belly, at most it could badly wound it. It couldn't kill it outright.
But Level 2 Little Li Flying Dagger could take the Scaled Water Lizard's life with a single hit.
The only drawback was that Qin Shaofeng's current Inner Qi Points let him use Little Li Flying Dagger at most nine times.
Speaking of Inner Qi Points, Qin Shaofeng couldn't help but complain about Yi Jin Jing, that Saint-grade skill.
Both Fiery Golden Eyes and Little Li Flying Dagger were God-grade skills, and Qin Shaofeng found it hard to believe that both had reached Level 2.
Meanwhile, Yi Jin Jing, that Saint-grade skill, still hadn't leveled up.
Before you continue